Wildlife Officials in Struggle To Save Starving Manatees in Florida

An orphaned manatee calf takes a bottle from a keeper at ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 13, 2022. (Courtesy of Natasha Holt)

State and federal wildlife officials are continuing to feed some of Florida’s starving manatees with about 10 tons of romaine lettuce per week at a feeding station in the middle of the state’s Atlantic coastline.

But, they said on Jan. 11, the population of the state’s iconic sea cows isn’t out of danger yet from what’s called the Unusual Mortality Event (UME).

The feeding of wild manatees began last winter, as officials desperately tried to find a way to stave off starvation for as many of the animals as possible.

The biggest problem threatening the gentle mammals is a massive die-off of seagrasses in the inland waterways along Florida’s eastern edge.

Wild manatees eat Romaine lettuce tossed to them by scientists at a feeding station in Brevard County, Fla., in a waterway warmed by discharge from a Florida Power and Light power plant. (Courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

During cold weather, the animals migrate into warmer inland water to escape frigid ocean temperatures that can cause their death. But along the state’s East Coast, the seagrasses they eat have been wiped out in many areas where they’ve historically sought refuge.

The die-off of vegetation has been blamed on pollutants that have clouded waterways, blocking sunlight to the plants, especially in the 150-mile Indian River Lagoon. Run-off of fertilizers, roadway residues, and waste degradation can cause algae blooms that kill seagrasses.

Manatees who come inland from the Gulf of Mexico and winter along the state’s west coast have been less affected.

Now, a massive collaborative effort of state and federal officials aims to keep the wild manatees alive with supplemental feeding, while working to replant and restore seagrass beds. If successful, the regrowth will take many years, experts have said.

Meanwhile, manatees starve and die.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s figures show 27 manatees died in the first six days of this year. State officials estimated there were between 7,520 and 10,280 manatees in Florida during 2015–2016.

Annual manatee deaths then started to increase, with 824 in 2018. Deaths dipped to about 600 range for the next two years, then went back up to 1,101 in 2021, and 800 in 2022.

Rescued manatees rehabilitating at ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Tampa, Fla., nibble romaine lettuce on Jan. 13, 2022. (Courtesy of Natasha Holt)

The commission’s web pages list starvation as the leading cause of death in what they call the “Manatee Mortality Event Along the East Coast.”

Of animals that didn’t get a formal necropsy in 2022, basic examinations suggested 88 percent of fatalities were due to starvation.

But deaths due to starvation appear to be down, although it’s too early to conclude why researchers say.

Preliminary indications are “none of the carcasses were attributed to primary starvation last week. However, FWC researchers expect findings of chronic malnutrition in manatees to persist along the Atlantic Coast, so long as there remains a seagrass shortage in the Indian River Lagoon,” the commission reported on its webpage.

The commission’s Tom Reinert, speaking during an online press conference on Jan. 11, said firmer figures for the beginning of 2023 would be available soon.

Scientists study each case to determine the cause of death.

Some of the manatees die of natural causes, and some are killed in human-caused events, such as boating accidents.

The slow-moving, curious mammals often fail to get out of the way of fast-moving boats and suffer broken bones, damaged lungs, and cuts from boat propellers.

A Return to ‘Endangered’ Status?

The most urgent problem is caused when rotund manatees enter the lagoon, find no food, then starve as their blubber stores are consumed. Necropsies have shown some died with bellies full of sand they'd eaten from the waterway’s bottom.

The die-off has led some environmentalists to call for the mammals’ restoration to endangered species lists, which provides special protections under the Endangered Species Act.

Manatees were classified as endangered in 1967. In the 1970s, their population, counted in aerial surveys, dropped to a few hundred.

Their status was formally improved to “threatened” in 2017, thanks to burgeoning numbers.

A manatee gives birth in the Indian River Lagoon near Jensen Beach, Florida in January 2018. (Dan M. Berger/The Epoch Times)

But some wildlife activists, such as the Save the Manatee Club—founded by former Florida Gov. Bob Graham and Florida songster Jimmy Buffett—and the Center for Biological Diversity, have requested their reclassification as  “endangered.”

The commission reported that 79 sick or injured manatees were being treated at 13 different critical care or rehabilitation facilities last week. Officials expect to release most of those that survive back into the wild, with the exception of 15 considered unable to live without human support.

The commission’s Michelle Pasawicz said at the press conference they’d gone through 30,000 pounds of romaine lettuce at recent feedings. She said they had just received another 25,000 pounds, which should last about a week.

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Typically, 50 to 150 manatees appear for feeding. A manatee, which can weigh up to 1,300 pounds, eats an estimated 4 to 9 percent of its body weight in vegetation every day.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Foundation paid for the romaine, Reinert said. But it took the manatees a while to recognize it as food, try it, and decide they liked it, he said.

“This is the best source of nutrition that we can provide in a safe and secure manner,” Reinert said. “The program seems to be rolling right along from last year. I remember just trying to get the manatees to start eating or trying to find out what would work to get them going.

“That took a while, but then, they have a long memory. They learned fast, and now I think we’re seeing repeat customers.”

However, the program can’t track individual manatees’ health or habits, Pasawicz said.

There are indications manatees’ health is generally improving. Researchers have observed more “cavorting” activity—playful actions and mating behavior—indicating they feel better. And they’ve seen the manatees going further to forage, both signs of recovery, Pasawicz said.

“Manatees do appear to be in better shape overall,” she said.

Researchers still see some signs of malnutrition and cold stress, which is most likely to claim the lives of animals in poor condition.

A family watches manatees in an exhibit that doubles as a rehabilitation facility at ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Florida on Jan. 13, 2022. (Courtesy of Natasha Holt)

Pasawicz, Reinert, and Jon Wallace, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said it’s too early to tell how much the feeding program is helping.

The death toll dropped last year, compared with the previous year, but that may have been because the most vulnerable animals died first, Reinert said.

“I’d like to think that our feeding program helped at least some manatees in staving off some of these mortalities,” he said.

On Jan. 10, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced the state would spend another $3.5 billion on water quality initiatives. He mentioned seagrass restoration in the Indian River Lagoon as one of the targets.

Nanette Holt contributed to this report.